Horse tram line reinstatement could start in 2027

Work to extend the track for the Isle of Man's historic horse trams could begin in 2027, the infrastructure minister has said.

The track for the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway was taken up during the £26m Douglas Promenade refurbishment project, which began in late 2018.

Although the line was reinstated from Strathallan Terminal to the War Memorial during those works, the continuation to the Sea Terminal was put on hold in 2021 after the required funding was reallocated to another part of the works.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall said a business case would be brought to Tynwald in May and, if approved, work on the 40-week project would start within 12 months.

The full length of the horse tram route is 1.6 miles (2.6km) from Strathallan Terminal to the Sea Terminal.

Crookall told the House of Keys work on some preparatory work had been done to as part of a designated horse tram corridor during the promenade works to help facilitate the completion of the line.

He said the business case would be taken to the Council of Ministers before being put on the register of business for the May Tynwald sitting.

Ahead of that sitting, a bid is set to be made to have the document brought forward for debate a month earlier.

Douglas South MHK Sarah Maltby will next month ask Tynwald members to task the Department of Infrastructure with bringing forward a capital funding request, implementation plan and business case for the reinstatement of the full line in April.

Maltby said she had tabled the motion because politicians were "really cutting it fine" to find out what the department's plans were for the reinstatement line during the current administration.

She said the trams were part of Manx heritage and something that "makes the island special".

Although the motion would not see the department commit to spending any money in April, it would give it "direction" on the future of the scheme, she added.

Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.